> You actually mean spread an opinion. I doubt any one citizen would conduct a trial or research; some may actually look at data, but that is rare. These are opinions, most likely biased by a belief.

You could say that about most breaking news.

It is not reasonable to expect people to conduct a rigorous field research before sharing their observations, especially if people's lives are on the line.

I distinctly remember citizen journalists sharing videos and pictures of the chaos in China at the end of 2019, trying to warn us. I remember all the tech platforms and our media doing everything they could to suppress it.